U.S. Pat. No. 2 466 912 and U.S. Pat. No. 2 466 921 in particular disclose clamps or clips allowing simple fixation of a tube, a bundle of cables or like elongated objects on a plane support. Such clamps are used in very numerous industries, in particular in automobile and aeronautic construction, and in the building industry. The support on which the object is to be fixed may thus be a plane zone of the housing of an apparatus, or any partition, metallic or not.
A clamp or clip of the type in question essentially comprises a metal strap partially wound on itself to constitute an open ring, inside which the object to be fixed will be introduced. One of the ends of the ring presents a straight extension presenting a circular hole for the passage of a screw for securing the clamp on its support. To ensure closure of the ring, generally without considerable force, there are provided, on the one hand, a plurality of openings transverse with respect to the strap, formed in the end of the ring opposite the straight extension, on the other hand, on the other end of the ring, an elongated tab substantially perpendicular to the straight extension. The free end of said tab is shaped as a hook, directed towards the interior of the clamp and capable of being introduced in one of said openings, in order to close the ring of the clamp.
Known clamps of this type and particularly those described in the Patents mentioned above, present various drawbacks.
On the one hand, the straight extension is relatively fragile and may be deformed too easily with respect to the ring of the clamp. On the other hand, the embodiment of the hooking tab provided on the straight extension leads to a notable loss of material of the strap. Finally, it must also be emphasized that the shape of the openings adapted to receive the hook located at the end of the tab leads to giving this hook, and consequently the strap itself, a relatively large thickness to avoid any deformation of the hook after the ring of the clamp has been tightened. This results in that, for any dimension of the clamp, its weight and cost price are relatively, and unnecessarily, high.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an attachment clamp of the type which has just been recalled, of which the structure has been improved in order to eliminate the drawbacks set for hereinbefore.